Machine foe



W. W. SHlPMAN.

Needle Machine.

Patented Sept; 20, 1859.

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UNITED OFFICE.

WILLIAM W.

SHIPMAN, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

MACHINE FOR MAKING SEWING-MACHINE NEEDLES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 25,531, dated September 20, 1859'.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, WM. W. SHIPMAN, of the city of New Haven, in the county of New Haven, in the State of Connecticut, have invented a new and Improved Machine for Manufacturing Sewing-Machine Needles; and I hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the characters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in the stamping, cutting off of the wire, punching the eye of the needle, and countersinking the same, by each revolution of the machine.

Refer first to Figure 1, which shows a plan of the machine the characters of reference on the respective figures referring to the same parts, A, showing the main drivin shaft, and B, B, the geared wheels, and B an B the bearings of the shaft, A the bearing for the shaft to which the cam C, is attached. The first movement in the operation of manufacturing the needle, by this machine, is by passing the wire 1, of which the needle is to be made, into the hole or hollow shaft seen at A Figs. 3, and 9. The machine being set in such a position, that the wire may be first introduced by hand, the first revolution of shaft A, completes one needle, and all the parts of the machine have done their full work, except the lever F, which had its work performed by the hand of the operator, in placing the wire into the machine. As soon as the first revolution has been made the lever F which is for holding the wire, and with the head block D forms a plier for that purpose, and as soon as the wire has been cut off by the shears which are formed by the block M and lever N, the pliers formed by F and D, slide back the length required for a needle, and grasps the wire by the action of the cam C, on the lever F and is now carried forward the length of another needle, when it is in turn punched and stamped and cut off. The eye being punched at the same time that the needle is cut off, the wire passing through the die P, I? being the punch, operated by the cam 0', this can be made in the same form of the cam O, Fig. 10. P is a stock or tube which is attached to the bed plate of the machine, and to which the die P and punch P are held, the die being adjustable and secured in its place by the set screw P*. This operation completes and composes the punching.

Fig. 5, shows a clamp which grasps hold of the end of the needle as soon as it has been forced in by the pliers before described, and holds it firmly while the stamping, or grooving the sides of the needle and the countersinking the eye is being done. As soon as this is performed the heads G, G, in which the dies are set, are opened, the die Gr bein attached to the pitman or connecting rod D which is attached to the crank shown in section in Fig. 11, and shaft A. The cams K, of which there are two, operate on the levers J, and those levers again work the clamp formed by the blocks I, I, the pins 5,6 being attached to the blocks I, I, and passing through the ends of those levers for that purpose, the main shaft A being in motion. The pliers formed by F and D while the above process is going on is moving back to take hold of the wire again, to feed it in the length of the needle and by the time this clamp or plier has taken hold of the wire the cams K, have operated on the levers J, and the needle is relieved and drops from the machine, at the same time the head G is slid back and allows the wire to be run in by the pliers, ready to be stamped as before described. I

2 Fig. 8 shows the countersunk die and 3' the die for stamping the needle or making a groove in each of its sides, there are two of those dies one set in each of the head blocks G and G and made adjustable by any of the known forms.

Fig. 4: shows a cross section of Fig. 1, and Fig. 2 at the red line 1, Fig. 6 indicates a cross section at the red line 2 showing the die blocks, dies and connecting rod, the red line in Fig. 5 indicates the position of the blocks I, I, as placed in Fig. 1, and Fig. 2. Fig. 9 shows a cross section of the cam at the red lines 4;, in Figs. 1, and 2, Fig. 8 indicates the manner of attaching the connecting rod G with die block G, Fig. 6 indicates the guides H, H, in Fig. 1, in which the die blocks G works, E, E, are guide plates for the pliers formed by the lever F, and head block D, L and L are spiral springs for the purpose of holding the levers J, J, and the arm of the shears or cutter N, in close contact with the cams O, and K, L Fig. 3 also indicates a spiral spring one end of which is attached to the lever F, and the other end attached to the hook or pin L in Fig. 3. ing die P and die P and 2, 8, Fig. 8, the This figure also indicates a cross section of cutter N, and clamp formed by J, J, and the bed of the machine, and the geared I, I, Fig. 5, the Whole in combination as set Wheels With their shafts and bearings. forth in Figs. 1, and 2, and operated in 5 Having thus fully described my machine the manner and for the purposes hereinbe- 15 Q for manufacturing sewing machine needles fore specified.

What I claim as my invention and desire to WILLIAM W. SHIPMAN. secure by Letters Patent is: Witnesses:

The feeding pliers formed by the lever F J. H. MERRILL, 10 and block D, in combination with the punch- 1 THOMAS DUNN. i 

